House panel OKs transportation spending bill

SPENDING BILL ADVANCES: The House Appropriations Committee Wednesday approved its fiscal 2019 transportation spending bill, after the committee batted back several Democratic amendments that would have shifted money around. The measure now heads to the full House -- it's not clear when lawmakers might take up the legislation, but appropriations season is in full swing and lawmakers are racing to get done before the end of September.

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Beet salad?: Among the failed amendments Democrats put forward were those that would have to cut out provisions related to trucking, high-speed rail and the procurement of transit assets from China. During the markup, Rep. David Price (D-N.C.) slammed a provision to exempt sugar beet carriers in Oregon from restrictions on truck length, saying: “How’s that for micromanagement?” But Rep. Michael Simpson (R-Idaho) defended the language. “The reason is that a lot of the sugar beets are grown in Idaho, and the processing plant is in Oregon,” he said. “Idaho allows that length of truck, but they have to go through all sorts of machinations, which cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars, refiguring their trucks to go this additional 55 miles into Oregon.”

Take it to the limit: Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) proposed an amendment — which also failed — to stipulate that DOT could only use the bill’s funding to pay the salaries of a maximum of 110 political appointees. Aguilar said appropriators have placed such a cap on DOT since 1986, and Secretary Elaine Chao asked for it to be raised.

Flight plan: The panel adopted a manager’s amendment by voice vote. It includes language, written by Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.), stating that any federally funded study of “alternative crew compliments for flight decks in commercial operations should prioritize the safety effects relative to two-person flights.” As Pros know, the House-passed FAA bill would require the agency to research single-piloted cargo planes.

HAPPY ALMOST FRIDAY! Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports. Stephanie is in the driver’s seat today, but she’ll be making a pit stop in the Buckeye State for the next week. Don’t worry, Brianna and Lauren will take the wheel while she’s gone. Send all your scoops, tips and song requests to them at lgardner@politico.com or @Gardner_LM and bgurciullo@politico.com or @brigurciullo

LISTEN HERE: Follow MT’s playlist on Spotify. What better way to start your day than with songs (picked by us and readers) about roads, rails and runways?

POLITICO and the South China Morning Post are partnering to expand coverage of U.S.-China relations. Read our note from POLITICO Editor-in-Chief John Harris and Editor Carrie Budoff Brown to learn more.

NTSB RECKONS WITH AMTRAK CRASHES... NTSB announced Wednesday that it would hold an investigative hearing for two recent Amtrak crashes. The board will examine a December 2017 derailment in Washington state as well as a two-train collision that happened in February during a two-day hearing in July, our Kathryn A. Wolfe reports.

… and gives preliminary details on Miami bridge collapse: When an unfinished pedestrian bridge collapsed March 15 in Miami, workers were re-tensioning a piece of the structure connecting the canopy and the deck that had been de-tensioned five days prior. Six people died and eight were injured — both workers on the bridge and people in the vehicles on the eight-lane road below. More here.

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PEACING OUT: Uber is pulling its self-driving vehicles off the road in Arizona and refocusing its driverless program in San Francisco and Pittsburgh — once NTSB’s preliminary report comes out on the Tempe, Ariz., crash that killed a pedestrian March 18. What’s more, the testing the company does where and when it begins again will be “much more limited,” according to an internal memo to employees by Uber executive Eric Meyhofer. As Tanya reports, the company will get proper permits and focus more on simulations to replace some on-road miles.

CHINESE MEDIA TAKES AIM AT AIRLINES: Major Chinese media outlets have joined the country’s government in pressuring western airlines to abide by laws forbidding any reference to Chinese-controlled regions as sovereign countries when advertising flights, according to POLITICO's new colleagues at the South China Morning Post. “Global Times, a nationalist tabloid owned by the party mouthpiece People's Daily, named and shamed the major overseas airlines still holding out in a social media posting on Wednesday.” Foreign airlines were given 30 days to comply with a directive the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued last month on the identification of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Canada Airlines, British Airways and Lufthansa have made the changes, but United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta and Qantas are among those that have yet to comply.

BEFORE YOU HEAD OUT: TSA is out with a fresh set of travel tips ahead of the busy Memorial Day weekend. The agency is urging people against overpacking their carry-on bags to reduce the likelihood of a bag search and also reminding people that large personal electronic like laptops, tablet, e-readers and cameras should be removed and placed in a separate bin. “Our officers may take a closer look at items that you wouldn’t expect, such as foods, powders, and any materials that can clutter bags and obstruct clear images on the X-ray machine. This is an effort to keep you safe,” said TSA spokesman Matt Leas. TSA has said it also will add 1,600 more screeners and 50 canine teams this summer to help with an anticipated spike in air travelers this summer. “Bottom line — we’re prepared,” Leas said.

STAY WOKE: The House Wednesday quietly rolled a two-year Coast Guard reauthorization into a National Defense Authorization (H.R. 5515 (115)). The measure was offered by Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and John Garamendi (D-Calif.) and adopted as part of a package of amendments via voice vote. The House is expected to vote on final passage of the bill today.

WRDA UPDATE: House Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said he expects the Water Resources Development Act (H.R. 8 (115)) to hit the floor the first week of June, Pro Energy’s Anthony Adragna writes. The House bill, unlike the Senate version, proposes moving the Army Corps of Engineers out of the Department of Defense.

LATEST DOT AIR TRAVEL NUMBERS: On-time arrival rates for airlines improved but more people lobbed disability-related complaints and complaints of discrimination against airlines in March than during the same month the previous year or even just the month prior, according to new DOT consumer data for the first quarter of 2018. The agency said that carriers boasted an on-time arrival rate of 80.9 compared to 79.9 during the same period the previous year. But there also were about 60 complaints regarding the treatment of disabled passengers in March compared to 55 such complaints during March 2017. The agency further noted a slight increase in discrimination complaints in March when nine of the 20 total discrimination complaints for the first quarter came in. “This is up from the total of four complaints recorded in both March 2017 and February 2018,” DOT said. Read the full report here.

FOR YOUR RADAR: POLITICO Europe reporter Mark Scott sat down for a Q&A with Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to discuss various issues, including the company’s plan to expand into Europe and to launch a new insurance program for European drivers and couriers.

MOVIN’ ON UP: Tekedra Mawakana is now chief external officer at Waymo after joining the company last year as global head of policy. “Mawakana's external engagement team will be tasked with selling government officials and the general public on the self-driving technology.” Pro Technology’s Steven Overly writes. Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., plans to expand its self-driving car service in Phoenix later this year.

THE COUNTDOWN: DOT appropriations run out in 130 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 130 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 861 days.

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About The Author

Stephanie Beasley is a transportation security reporter for POLITICO Pro. Prior to joining POLITICO, she covered transportation for Bloomberg BNA. She started her policy career reporting on the FDA for Inside Washington Publishers.

Stephanie is an alumna of Oberlin College and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She is also a native of Dayton, Ohio. And much like fellow Daytonians, Wilbur and Orville Wright, you could say she was destined for a career in transportation.